Just to clarify for those who haven't read Sentimental Haste or forgot most of it :)

This is set in April 1919, so Nicholas is four years old.

Isobel and Dr. Clarkson are married and because they spend quite a lot of time at the Abbey, the whole family calls Dr. Clarkson Richard and he calls them by their first names as well.

Tom and Sybil live at Downton at this point, they did go to Ireland but returned around Christmas 1918 and don't go back because of threats made towards Tom.

By popular demand I let Edith and Strallan actually get married in this story, so that is why it says that Edith is married at one point here.

Robert and Cora have already overcome their differences at this point, so Robert never becomes interested in Jane.

The 'other children' in the nursery that are mentioned here are Mary and Matthew's children and Sybil and Tom's daughter.

Hope you like this!

Kat


"I am worried about Nicholas. He is feverish." He looks at Cora and knows what she is afraid the boy might have.

"I'll say goodnight to him now and see how he is doing. If he really is sick, we can ask Richard to have a look at him. He and Isobel are coming for dinner." Cora nods and he leaves the room.

As soon as he has entered the nursery he knows that his son is sick, because the boy is already in bed and Nicholas never lies down in bed before both of his parents have said goodnight to him.

"Papa?" Nicholas croaks rather than asks and it breaks his heart.

"Yes?"

"I don't feel well." He sits down on his son's bed and feels his forehead. Cora's estimation that Nicholas was feverish certainly was right and now he too is afraid that their son might have caught the Spanish Flu.

"Don't talk if it hurts you." He rings for the Nanny then, because the first thing that needs to be done is to get the other children out of the nursery. It would probably be easier to move Nicholas but he looks so tired and exhausted that he does not dare to lift him out of his bed. He tries to talk to his son but the boy is so weak that he keeps nodding of and he thinks that it is probably for the best if Nicholas sleeps for a while.

Cora joins him about half an hour later, sits down next to him and gently brushes her hand across Nicholas' cheek.

"He is burning up," she says.

"I know."

"I'll tell Carson to send Richard up as soon as he gets here. He won't mind."

Cora leaves for a few minutes and then returns. They should both go downstairs, the family is gathering in the drawing room now and they will have dinner soon, but neither one of them moves and they don't need to talk about it. If they are right and Nicholas really has Spanish Flu then their son is somewhere between life and death and they won't leave him. Losing a child is something inconceivable for both Cora and him, they both love their children with all their heart and if one of them were to die, they would both fall into a bottomless hole.

When he hears a knock on the door he gets up and lets Richard in.

They cut the formalities short and it only takes Richard about five minutes to examine Nicholas and to give them his evaluation.

"It is Spanish flu," he says.

"Oh dear God," Cora says and begins to sway so much that he has to hold onto her.

"Will he" he can't finish the question but he doesn't have to, Richard knows what he wanted to ask.

"I don't know. Nicholas is a healthy child but he is a child. And the disease is very tricky and unpredictable."

"I hope you understand that I won't be able to join you for dinner tonight," Cora says and sits down on the bed again.

"Of course I understand. I'll excuse both of you. It is best if the patient is surrounded by what is familiar and the best you can do for Nicholas now is to stay with him, at least for a while. Even if he doesn't say anything, he might very well hear your voices. I'll come upstairs again after dinner."

With that Richard leaves and Cora and he are left alone with their sick son.

"Why?" Cora asks. "Why us? After everything we went through in the war, after everything that Nicholas has been through with growing up in a convalescent home, his father missing for half a year and his brother-in-law returning with that dreadful injury can't he be spared this? Why can't we just live in peace?"

He doesn't know what to say, so he takes Cora in his arms and holds her tight.

"I don't know. I really don't know." Cora begins to shake and sob then and once again he realizes how thin she has become. The war and its aftermath haven taken their toll on her at least as much as on him. He can't regret going to war but he wishes he could have spared her the fear she must have felt for him when he was lost. She never talks about it, but from what Mary, Sybil and Edith have told him, there was a time when Cora was the only person living at Downton who still hoped that he was not dead. And he knows that there was a point at which Cora accepted his very likely death. She must have suffered so much and still kept everything running. And now with the war over and Matthew's injury having almost healed, she still does so much charity work, so much more than she did before the war and he is afraid that it is more than is good for her. He tries to help her where he can, he fully supports her, he accompanies her to fund raisings, he convinced his mother to give her name to two of the charities that Cora works so hard for, but it is too much. And now their little boy, their little miracle is sick and might not survive.

"Robert, if he doesn't,"

"Shh," he says because he does not want her to say it out loud. "How about I read to him? He likes it and I know that you like to listen to it too."

He guides Cora back to Nicholas' bed, they both sit down and he begins to read. He doesn't know how long he does this, eventually he looks up and sees that Cora has nodded of too. She is holding their little boy's hand and he sends a prayer to the heavens that Nicholas will not die.

Richard comes and goes, that night, the next morning, around lunch, between lunch and dinner, before dinner, after dinner, during the middle of the night, he doesn't know how often after a while anymore. All he knows is that each time that Richard looks at Nicholas he looks more worried and Cora has become rather frantic. She hasn't slept in more than a day, he is sure of it and he thinks that he hasn't slept either. Nicholas keeps coughing and his breath is ragged and sometimes it stops for a few seconds and every time that happens, the world seems to spin out of control. They can't get his fever down either, something that seems to worry Richard quite a lot.

"Robert? Would you come outside just for a minute?" Richard asks this as quietly as possibly. Cora has nodded off again on her chair next to Nicholas' bed. It is has been four days since they were told that their son had contracted Spanish Flu.

"What is it?" he asks although he is afraid the he knows what is coming.

"It doesn't look good. If the fever doesn't break tonight, Nicholas' chances are minimal. It is up to you to tell Cora."

"Thank you," he says and returns to the nursery.

"If the fever doesn't break soon, he won't make it," Cora says and looks at him. He wonders how she knows but he supposes that she just does.

"I am afraid so."

"Robert, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. There is nothing we can do besides holding his hand, cooling his forehead and praying." So that is what they do. Neither one of them is very religious, he even less so than Cora, but praying is all there is left to for them. He keeps reading to Nicholas and Cora keeps applying a cool cloth to his forehead and eventually, miraculously at 5 am, the fever goes down. Nicholas wakes up only 15 minutes later, looks at them and says

"I am very thirsty." His voice is hoarse but strong and although he needs Cora's help drinking, he does so without any further difficulties. Richard pronounces Nicholas to be well on the road to recovery at eight and Robert has never been so relieved in his life. But he has never been so afraid either. And he thinks that he will never again feel that kind of fear.

He is sure of it until three hours later when on her way downstairs, Cora loses her balance and the only thing that keeps her from falling all the way into the entrance hall is Mrs. Hughes holding onto her. He watched the scene from downstairs, he runs towards them, grabs Cora and carries her upstairs. He doesn't need to wait for Richard's examination, he knows that Cora has got the Spanish Flu. And the symptoms are much more pronounced in her than they were in Nicholas. She writhes on the bed, she keeps throwing up blood, she fades in and out of consciousness and her temperature is higher than Nicholas' ever was.

He keeps holding Cora's hand and begs her not to die and again he has no idea how long he sits next to her bed. Mary and Edith come to the room several times, Nicholas is still too weak and Sybil is pregnant so they have both been told to stay away from Cora's room. Mary and Edith look as worried as he feels, he knows that neither one of them is ready to lose their mother, even if they are both married. It is Mary who comes to him in the middle of the night.

"By the look on your face I gather that she has not improved."

"No. The fever hasn't broken yet and she keeps vomiting. I am afraid she doesn't know who I am, not all the time."

"But I am sure that she knows that someone who loves her very much is sitting by her side." He takes Mary's hand and squeezes it.

"Thank you." Mary nods and keeps staring at her mother.

"I can't imagine life without her. It is silly, I have three children myself, but yet I can't imagine life without my mother."

"No. And it is not silly. Your mother is a wonderful person. She is the glue to this family, she holds everything together. I sometimes think that we would be nothing without her." Mary nods again, says

"I think you are right," and then takes a deep breath.

"Papa, I came here to tell you something. If Mama should not…make it," he wants her to stop, he desperately wants her to stop so he looks at Mary pleadingly but she ignores it, maybe because now that she has started, it is easier to go on than to stop, "then I want you to know that I will help you. With everything. Nicholas mostly of course, but everything else. I'll take over all of Mama's responsibilities or share them with Sibyl. But you wouldn't be alone. I talked to Matthew about it, he too thinks it is the right thing to do. I hope I will never have to take over any of Mama's responsibilities, but if it came to it, I would do it."

"Thank you Mary," he says because it is all he can say. Mary gently squeezes his shoulders before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night Papa. And please wake me if you need me."

He says "yes" but already knows that he won't wake Mary unless it comes to the worst. He is thankful to her for having offered her help but he wants Cora to himself, especially if this is their last night together.

He takes Cora's hand in his and draws circles on it, hoping that she will realize that it is him taking care of her and that he loves her very much. He wonders if he should prepare himself for her possible death, if he should think about what to tell the girls and Nicholas and imagining himself telling his children that their mother has died lets his tears spill over.

"Robert?" He thinks that he is dreaming, but when he looks at Cora, her eyes are open and less glazed over than they were before.

"You are awake."

"Yes."

"It's a sight to gladden my heart. You gave me such a fright." Cora smiles a small smile and moves her hand in his.

"I am sorry, darling. But I think I am better now."

"Good."

"How is Nicholas?"

"Much better. But Richard wouldn't let me spend time with Nicholas as long as I stayed so close to you. Mary and Matthew took care of him. I suppose we will both be allowed to see him quite soon."

"Good."

He spends two more days at Cora's bedside, and Nicholas is allowed to come to the room on the second day. He really looks normal again and while he watches his son jumping on his bed and telling his mother a story about how his cat Felix chased Isis through the entrance hall, the door opens and a fear stricken Sybil appears in the room.

"It is Tom this time," she says and leaves.


What happens to Tom is part of the actual Sentimental Haste story, so I won't put it here :)

To the reader who asked for a Mary/Matthew story: I have had one in my head for quite some time now and as I have a little less work to do than usual at the moment, it is not unlikely that I will write it. Thanks for the encouragement!